Who We Are

New Pecherska Ukrainian Orthodox Monastery is a community dedicated to monastic life in the Orthodox Church. We take our name from Kyivan Cave Monastery ( Kyievo-Pecherska Lavra) in Kiev, Ukraine. You can read more about the Kyivan Cave Monastery by CLICKING HERE>>>.

Genuine monastic life nurtures and stimulates the spiritual and moral development, not only of its members, but also of the entire Church. Orthodox monasticism is not divided into different orders, each having its own mission or orientation. We seek to continue the work started by the early monks who worked into the desert to grieve in their prays for the sins of the world and at the same time experiencing the regenerating spiritual joy of Christ's forgiveness and resurrection. The monk and nun dies in order to live, they forget themselves in order to find their real selves in God, they become ignorant of worldly knowledge in order to attain real spiritual wisdom which is given only to the humble ones.

There are three basic modes of monastic life: that of the solitary; that of the skete where two or monks or nuns live together under the direction of a spiritual guide; and that of the cenobium, or community, where several monks or nuns live in obedience to an igumen or abbot. New Pecherska follows the cenobitic or communal rule with elements of a hesychast typicon.

 What is difficult in the secular world is approached with dedication in the monastic life. In his or her spiritual life, the monk or nun simply tries to do what every Christian should try to do: to live according to God's commandments. The fundamental principles of monasticism are not different from those of the lives of all the faithful.

 From the very beginning, the Christian life has been associated with self-denial and sacrifice. We hear in Mark, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Christ calls each of us to give ourselves totally to him, as we read in Matthew, "He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."
 
Fervent and unceasing prayer, obedience to the elders of the Church, brotherly love and humility, as well as all the essential virtue of the monastic life were cultivated by the members of the Church from its earliest day. New Pecherska prayers to follow this tradition.

The monastery is part of the worldwide Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the spiritual leadership of His Holiness Patriarch Filaret, Patriarch of Kiev and All Rus Ukraine. To visit the UOC-KP Internet site CLICK HERE>>>

Archimandrite Theodosius receives Partiarch Filaret's blessing following the Divine Liturgy.
	Archimandrite Theodosius joins other clergy at the head table with Patriarch Filaret following the Divine Liturgy.